So You Want to Run The Chicago Marathon... & So It Begins

Rebecca running X-Country - 1988

I like short shorts. I always have, & I always will. This picture is from 1988 when I joined the Cross Country team as a Freshman in high school at Waubonsie Valley. My neighbor Beth invited me to run with Coach Clendening & the rest of the girls the summer before, & a love affair with running sort of began; not quite yet. I never again ran Cross Country competitively in High School after Freshman year. Fast forward to 12 years ago when the little brother (Matt) of a classmate of mine, Katy Sirovatka, married my little sister (Karen). My sister kept me up-to-date on what Katy was up to, but since she lived in Wisconsin, we didn't hang out often. Although, there was that evening at Medieval Times... but that is a story for another day. Fast forward again to a little over a year ago. Katy heard through my sister that I was planning a road trip to Yellowstone & other National Parks out west & graciously offered to help me plan since she had just visited there a couple years prior. Katy & I got to talking & realized that we had much in common including our love of the outdoors, an interest in fitness, & apparently a not-so-secret love of the musical RENT. During this time Katy & her husband Jon talked with me about their passion for running in triathlons & particularly the Ironman. Apparently an Iron Man involves swimming 2.4 miles in a body of water followed by a 112 mile bike ride. When you are through with all of that, you run a marathon... without taking a break to nap. CRAZY COOL. Wow. So, again, a seed was planted, & I had in my mind that I too would like to try to push myself physically, if I could only find the time.

The much appreciated page in the IRON MAN scrapbook.

Fast forward to this past Thanksgiving. I had been running during every spare second since Mid-October by that time & I thought that maybe I was ready to run in public... in a race. Katy & Jon were planning to be in town to spend Thanksgiving my my sister & her brother. Aha!!! A plan was hatched to invite Katy & Jon to run with me in my first competitive run since before Tommy was born. It was great. Jon wore stocking cap covered with working Xmas lights while Katy wore some of her professional gear including her Iron Man cap. I encouraged them to do their best & not worry about me. Believe it or not, I set a personal record that day pushing past the urge to dry heave on the home stretch. (So did Katy, set a PR that is.) As I ran toward the finish line, I heard Jon say 'Hey Rebecca!!!' I turned & both Katy and Jon were smiling & waving at me as I passed. That meant the world to me. It was great to see my new friend and an old friend, both accomplished athletes, waiting for me to finish. I finished several minutes before I told them to expect me, & yet they were there. Later, on Facebook, Katy confirmed that my wildest dream had come true. She had included me in a page about the Naperville Noon Lion's 2011 Turkey Trot... in her Ironman Scrapbook. Whoa.

Fast forward to now. During this time, Katy was fighting a private battle with cancer. Melanoma. Katy lost her battle with cancer on March 16, 2012. I have no words to describe the loss I feel. The only thing I can think to do is to continue on the path her example set me on, & to nurture the seed that was planted. Therefore, I will be running the 2012 Chicago Marathon in her honor. Every bit of fundraising I do... every step of training along the way... every mile of the race, will be in her honor. I hope that you will join me on my journey whether it is by reading my blog, encouraging me, or by making a donation to the charity I am supporting through the Chicago Marathon, The Jack H Marston II Melanoma Fund. (See link below.)

http://www.active.com/donate/12JTCHI/rebecca23 

I hope that you find the things I have to say entertaining. Katy & Jon know me well enough to know that my humor is silly, sarcastic, & self-deprecating. I think that she would have laughed that I posted an ancient picture of myself wearing short shorts in the hopes that I may again be able to see every muscle in my legs as I wear... you guessed it... short shorts. More on that later. For now... think about this, '525600 minutes, how do you measure, a year in the life?'

Katy, John, & Rebecca (left to right) just before running the 2011 Naperville Turkey Trot.